


The Fourth Side of the Pyramid

by missbecky



Category: Mummy Returns (2001), The Mummy (1999)
Genre: Angst, F/M, Gen, Post-movie tag
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-09-15
Updated: 2012-09-15
Packaged: 2017-11-14 08:02:44
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,410
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/513074
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/missbecky/pseuds/missbecky
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>After Ahm Shere, Jonathan wonders where his destiny lies.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Fourth Side of the Pyramid

**Author's Note:**

> This was originally written way back in 2001, when the movie came out. I was so annoyed by the factual error of that line, "Three sides of the pyramid" that this was the result.

Their return to Cairo was a subdued affair, not the triumphant one it should have been. Rick and Evy could barely keep their hands off each other, and Alex clung to them both with equal strength. Only Jonathan felt anything resembling the happiness that should have been theirs, and even that was tempered with other, less happy thoughts.

Izzy, for one. The man was adamant that the diamond half belonged to him. He had not been paid, he insisted, and so he would very graciously accept part of the diamond instead. Even after hearing how the Scepter of Osiris had killed the Scorpion King, he had persisted in his demands, until Jonathan was ready to dump the pilot overboard.

Sobering, too, was the memory of the view from the dirigible as they left Ahm Shere. Dead men in black littered the sands, mute reminders of the battle that had raged here. The Med-jai would be a long time recovering from their losses.

And finally, although they were surely oblivious to it, was the effect Rick and Evy themselves had on him. They kissed and held each other close and all Jonathan had was a cold diamond. He hugged it often, but it never hugged him back. He stood apart from the happy family and felt increasingly disenchanted with the way things had turned out.

"Thanks for the ride, Izzy," Rick said as he climbed from the dirigible.

Evy gave the pilot one last kiss on the cheek. "Thank you, Izzy."

Clutching his diamond close, Jonathan stepped onto solid ground, swaying slightly at the sudden lack of motion. He stubbornly refused to even look at Izzy.

"Ah, that's half mine," the pilot called.

Jonathan turned his back, whistling under his breath.

"O'Connell!"

Before he could get embroiled in the argument, Jonathan began walking away, heading for their rented vehicle. "Come on, Alex," he said. "Let's go get the car." Behind him, Izzy's loud protests rose into the afternoon.

"Are you really going to let him have half of that, Uncle Jon?" asked Alex, his blue eyes enormous in his face as he stared at the huge diamond.

"Now just what kind of idiot do you take me for?" Jonathan asked, rolling his eyes.

Alex laughed, the first time since their rescue in Ahm Shere that he had done so, and Jonathan couldn't have been happier. Sometimes there were advantages to playing the buffoon, he thought privately.

****

They booked rooms in a Cairo hotel and went on a spending spree. New clothes, new toiletries, new bags, new everything. Fancy dinner on white tablecloths. Wine for Evy, whiskey for the men, and apple juice for Alex. Rich chocolate desserts and fine brandy. They were glad to be alive, and in the mood to celebrate.

Shortly after dinner, it became apparent that Rick and Evy wanted to celebrate in a rather intimate fashion, so they returned to the hotel, dragging a reluctant Alex behind them.

On his own again as usual, Jonathan made it his goal to have a drink at every bar in Cairo in one evening.

He almost managed it, too.

****

Of course, the next morning he cursed himself for his stupidity as he hunched over the toilet bowl, retching endlessly, his head pulsing with sick, rotten pain. Had there ever been a more imbecilic man to walk the earth? What the bloody hell had he been thinking?

He tottered over to the sink and splashed some water on his face, wincing at the shock of the cold. He wished mightily for a headache powder, or failing that, a nice big bottle of laudanum. Anything to dull the pain and end his misery.

His reflection glowered back at him, bloodshot eyes and hair in sweaty twists over his forehead. He leaned in until his sour breath fogged up the mirror and he couldn't see anymore.

The diamond was under his pillow, where he had left it. Groaning slightly, he turned and shambled into the bedroom, dropping across the bed when his knees hit the mattress. He lay where he'd landed, one arm hanging off the edge of the bed, his face pressed into the cool linen of the pillow. Overhead, the ceiling fan turned in lazy circles, barely stirring the hot air of another summer Cairo morning.

Jonathan closed his eyes and slept.

****

_O'Connell does not want to believe, but he flies like Horus toward his destiny._

_Yes, yes. Fascinating. Tell me about this golden pyramid._

Images blurred past him.

Rick jumping over the side of the dirigible, heedless of his own safety, desperate to save Evy. Alex's tear-streaked face as he stared at his dead mother. The anger in Anck-su-namun's dark eyes as she hit him again and again. Evy taking up those golden sais, full of otherworldly calm. Ardeth holding the falcon, certain that he was right as he talked about past lives and destiny.

_Right. She's a reincarnated princess and I'm a warrior for God._

_And your son leads the way to Ahm Shere. Three sides of the pyramid._

He stood in the prow of the dirigible, holding onto the side, slightly bent over as he peered down. Below, all of the world was displayed for him to see. There was Egypt, nestled in a corner of the globe created by Africa and Arabia. There was England, with London its crown jewel sparkling in the sunlight. Far away was America, home to men like Rick O'Connell and promising both adventure and disillusionment. 

As he watched, Rick and Evy walked across the globe, holding hands. In his free hand, Rick held the Scepter of Osiris, and the tattoo on his wrist was glowing with a lambent blue light. Evy's eyes were lined with black kohl and she held a crimson cushion with the Bracelet of Anubis resting atop its velvety fabric.

Ahead of them was Alex, skipping lightly in his youthful innocence. He was dressed in blue and gold and where he stepped on the globe, golden light shot forth from his footprints. He did not look back to see if his parents followed, but continued onward, confident and unafraid.

Jonathan gripped the edge of the basket hard enough to hurt his hands. "Why aren't I with them?" he asked plaintively.

"That's half mine, you know," Izzy said.

He whirled around, infuriated with the pilot. "Will you shut up!" he yelled.

Horus the falcon took off with an irritated cry and a flurry of feathers. Ardeth watched him go, then looked at Jonathan. "Three sides of the pyramid," he said.

"But pyramids have four sides," Jonathan said. "What about the fourth? Is it me?"

"I must go," Ardeth said. "I must warn the commanders."

Jonathan turned and looked at the world below. He could not see Rick and Evy anymore, and only the light shining forth from Alex told him where they were. They were out in the world, a part of it in a way he could not begin to comprehend. He was merely an observer, someone who looked down on it all, drifting along the surface.

He wanted to be part of that world.

"Wait!" he cried. "Wait for me! I'm coming, too!"

He lifted his leg and sat on the edge of the basket. "Evy! Rick! Wait for me!"

_And your point is?_

_My point is, I told you so you wouldn't kill me!_

_When did we make that arrangement?_

He jerked, startled, his hands coming up to ward off the snake, and he let go of the dirigible. Immediately his body tilted outward, falling away from the safety of the basket, falling into the night, falling to the ground below, the featureless ground, not the amazing world that his sister and her family had walked through, a world that had never been meant for him, he saw now, now when it was too late.

Falling.

Falling...

****

He woke with a cry, his hands scrabbling for something to hold onto, something to anchor himself with. One slid under the pillow and his knuckles rapped painfully against a hard facet of the diamond.

Jonathan opened his eyes. 

****

Rick was funny about cars -- even rented ones-- so Jonathan took a cab, holding on for dear life as the car took corners too sharply and the driver sang an off-key song about someone named Jasmine. The remains of his headache still throbbed behind his eyes and his stomach was unhappy with the water he had drunk earlier, but he thought (hoped!) the sickness was over with.

The cab dropped him off at his destination, then pulled away, leaving him standing there, scowling at himself, wondering if the heat had made him take leave of his senses, or if he was really going to do this.

After all, what good could it do? Why was he letting this get to him? He could simply return to London and resume his life again, and try to forget all of this had ever happened. That was what he _should_ do, it was what the old Jonathan would have done, it was what he wanted to do.

So why wasn't he doing it? Why was he standing here in front of a sign that said Magic Carpet Airways?

He shifted his pack from his right hand to his left, and the weight inside thumped against his shin. He supposed that was the reason why. That cold, hard stone. The stone that was the only thing he had in the world.

Sure. He could go back to London. Go back and live in his sister's house on his brother-in-law's sufferance. Spend every pound he made on booze and cards and women. He could get married again and regret it the very next day -- _Did I mention I was single now?_

He could go back to the life he was barely living, a life that was nothing more than drifting along the surface of things.

But why? Why should people like Rick and Evy be the ones to walk among the world? Why should he have to stay behind? There were four sides to a pyramid, and dammit, he wanted to know what his destiny was. Only then would he be privileged enough to walk beside the people he loved, and truly live.

The wooden gate to the airfield was flung open, and Izzy sauntered out. The pilot stopped dead upon seeing him, then broke into a wide grin, silver teeth flashing in the sun. "My payment!"

"Not quite." Jonathan swallowed hard and walked up to Izzy. "You'll get it. But first I want you to take me somewhere."

Izzy's eyes narrowed suspiciously. "Where?"

"I want to go back," he said. "To Ahm Shere."

"What? You almost got yourselves killed there! Why do you want to go back?" Izzy looked over Jonathan's shoulder, obviously expecting to see Rick and Evy and Alex.

Jonathan stood as straight as his headache would allow. "I want to see the Med-jai," he said.

****

"Oh, Evelyn!" Rick O'Connell sang out the words. "We have a little problem."

She frowned at him. "What now?"

He waggled the note at her. "Your brother."

"Jonathan?" She snatched the folded piece of paper from his hand. "What's he done now?"

Rick sighed. "Hell if I know. All I know is he's left us to go do it."

"Left us?" She managed to sound both worried and aggravated. 

He waited for her to read the note that Jonathan had written, something about needing to go search out pyramids, and then said, "So should we wait for him or what?"

Evy threw the paper to the floor in exasperation. "He's probably out there looking for more lost treasure. That ludicrous diamond isn't enough for him."

Rick raised an eyebrow. "Does this mean I'm only buying three tickets to London?"

She wanted to say yes, he could see it in her eyes. But love for her brother wouldn't allow her to abandon him, even if Jonathan had just done the same to them. "No," she said wearily. "We'll wait."

"Just checking," Rick said, and hoped his annoyance didn't show. He wanted to get home, to get out of this land of blazing sands and walking corpses. When Jonathan showed up, the man had a lot of explaining to do.

****

With the departure of the J'hia tribe, their numbers dwindled even more. Only four days after the battle, they were less than half the men who had so bravely taken a stand against the Army of Anubis.

Many of them had died in that battle; they were still claiming bodies from the sand. It was a gruesome, sorrowful task, but it had to be done. Of those who had been left standing when the black sands had settled, half had gone to Hamunaptra. The Book of Amun-Ra was still there, a threat which had to be contained. 

They watched curiously as the dirigible hovered near, then thumped down on the sand. A white man stepped down, stumbled, then quickly regained his footing. He began walking among them, his head turning from side to side, obviously seeking someone.

The Med-jai looked at him for a little bit, then resumed their tasks; the arrival of the Englishman was only of minor interest. Horses still needed tending, the wounded still needed aid, and the dead still needed honor and burial. They all knew the Englishman was here to see Ardeth Bay, and any one of them could have told the man that their leader was no longer there.

But nobody stopped what they were doing. They figured somebody else would talk to the Englishman.

****

Eventually someone finally took pity on him and told him. Jonathan listened gravely, asked a few questions, then returned to the dirigible.

"That's it?" Izzy asked. "We came all the way out here for that?"

"No," Jonathan said testily. "We did not."

"So what now?"

He stepped over to the bench running the length of the basket and sat down heavily. 

"Hamunaptra."

****

It was another full day to Hamunaptra, and Jonathan felt his spirits plunge a little further with every passing hour. Just why the hell was he doing this? Why couldn't he just let it go?

Stupid questions, ones he knew the answers to. Every time he closed his eyes he saw that image from his dream, Rick and Evy and Alex walking on the world, proud and beautiful and strong. It hurt that he was not there with them. Didn't they notice he wasn't among them? Did they even care?

Izzy talked non-stop during the journey, telling stories of his travels. Some of these involved Rick O'Connell, and then Jonathan would perk up, but mostly he just sat in silence. Once he would have regaled the pilot with stories of his own, but he seemed to have lost his appetite for story-telling.

Towards dusk, they came upon Hamunaptra. Shocked out of his lethargy, Jonathan sprang to his feet and stared down at the sight below.

Gone was the City of the Dead he had known. Hamunaptra now looked like any other dig site in Egypt. Pits in the earth looked like gaping mouths from his vantage point. Floodlights and cables and electric generators and trucks clogged the sand, ugly modern objects that clashed horribly with the way he remembered the ancient city.

And from the looks of it, there had been a battle here, too. Men lay on the sand, some in the black of the Med-jai, and others in red.

"What the hell happened here?" asked Izzy.

Jonathan shook his head. "I don't know. It looks like some of al-Fez's men stayed behind to guard Hamunaptra. When the Med-jai arrived, there was a battle."

"Battle?" Izzy's head jerked up, his eyes widening.

"Oh, for heaven's sake," Jonathan snapped. "You're not going to get shot. It's over with." He pointed to a stretch of level land between two of the deeper excavations. "Set it down over there."

He peered anxiously over the basket, scanning the faces of the men below. Disappointment cut through him as again he came up empty. Damn!

"Sit down," Izzy ordered. The dirigible sank lower and lower, and Jonathan braced himself on the bench; Izzy was not very good at the art of gentle landings.

The basket set down with a bone-rattling thump, and Jonathan's teeth clicked together hard enough to bring tears of pain to his eyes. "Bloody hell!" he cried.

"Sorry," Izzy said airily.

Jonathan stood up and directed a stern glare in the pilot's direction. He turned toward the gate in the basket, then drew up short.

Ardeth Bay was standing on the sand. "Jonathan."

Jonathan scrambled forward, out of the basket. "Ah, my friend," he said expansively. "Just the person I wanted to see."

Ardeth nodded a greeting to Izzy, who remained on board. "You came alone?"

"I did, yes," Jonathan said. He clutched the strap of his pack tightly, letting it dangle in front of his legs. 

"Is something wrong?" The Med-jai was clearly puzzled by his sudden appearance.

Not that Jonathan could blame him. "No, no. Nothing wrong at all." He lowered his voice from its earlier hale and hearty tones. "I—ah, I wanted to talk to you."

For a moment Ardeth's eyes narrowed, then he nodded. "Of course."

****

Evy leaned back in his arms. "What do you think he's doing?"

They were on the balcony of their hotel room, watching the sunset. He stood with his arms around her, his chin resting on top of her head. "I don't know. But knowing Jonathan, it's some crazy scheme involving money and/or a girl."

Evy sighed. "Do you think he'll ever grow up?"

Rick thought about this, then shook his head. "I doubt it."

****

Ardeth Bay had to be the most patient man in the world, Jonathan thought, several hours later. 

Sunset had come and gone, and now the interior of the tent was lit by twin lanterns that cast a warm golden glow on the sand.

He hadn't quite known how to approach his subject, so he came at it from an angle. He felt suddenly compelled to explain himself, to give an account of his life and the sorry state it was in, why he had so little to show for it. He needed to explain about the diamond and the dream, and those things took time.

He talked the sun down, and into the night. Ardeth sat quietly, his expression revealing nothing of his thoughts. At times, when Jonathan stumbled over his words, the Med-jai would prompt him to continue until Jonathan rediscovered what it was that he wanted to say, and was off and running again.

He talked about his parents, about Evy, and growing up in the Carnahan household. He talked about his early ambitions to be a writer, and pen the definitive history of Ancient Egypt. He talked about how Hamunaptra had affected them all, and the whirlwind courtship and marriage of his sister and O'Connell. He talked about life in London, the hedonism, the boredom. He talked about the moment the curator walked into his room, and the terror of having a knife held to his throat. He talked about his fear for Alex, and the grief that had torn him apart when Evy died.

And then he simply ran out of words. 

He looked at Ardeth expectantly. Now that the moment of truth had arrived, he was unaccountably nervous. His palms were slick with sweat and his heart was pounding.

Ardeth gazed back, then suddenly seemed to realize that something was expected of him. "I do not think you came all this way to tell me your life story," the Med-jai said. "But I am unsure why you are here."

Jonathan just sat there. He knew he must look a fool with his mouth hanging open, but he couldn't bring himself to care. God knew he certainly _felt_ like a fool.

He closed his mouth with an audible snap and swallowed hard. The old, breezy, carefree facade he usually affected came to his rescue. "Well, really, it's nothing." He waved a hand. "I shouldn't have bothered you. I see--" His voice faltered. "I see you're busy. What -- what happened here?"

"We came for the Book of Amun-Ra," Ardeth Bay said. "That it would not fall into their hands again."

He nodded, his head bobbing up and down like a puppet's on a string. "Good idea, that."

"Does O'Connell know you are here?" Ardeth asked.

"What?" He was thrown by the question. "Ah, no. No, he doesn't."

He stood up and seized the straps of his pack. He saw now what a huge mistake it had been to come out here. Ardeth was like Rick and Evy and Alex -- the Med-jai moved in the world, a part of it, connected to everything else. Only he, Jonathan Carnahan, was not, forever an outsider.

"What did you bring?" The Med-jai chieftain gestured to his pack.

"Oh." Jonathan sat down again. He opened the pack and reached inside. "I took it off the temple of Ahm Shere." He pulled out the diamond and held it up. The lantern light reflected off its many facets, turning it a warm gold color.

Ardeth's eyes widened slightly, the only visible sign of his shock. "You are lucky it did not disappear into the sands along with the rest of the pyramid."

He'd not thought of that before. Suddenly the diamond he had been close to hating seemed very precious. "Yes, well, I'll be sure to take good care of it." The fact that he had promised half to Izzy was suddenly insignificant.

The heavy diamond gave him something to focus on. Knowing he was being a coward, he dropped his head and stared at the gem. "I wanted to ask you something."

Ardeth said nothing to this.

"You said--" He gripped the diamond tightly and took a deep breath. "You said Rick was a Med-jai. Evy is a reincarnated princess of Egypt. Alex is the chosen one." He forced himself to look up at Ardeth, although it was the hardest thing he had ever done; it felt like there was a weight the size of that diamond on the back of his neck, wanting to bow down his head. "So tell me. What am I supposed to do?"

Ardeth looked nonplussed. "You're asking me?"

Jonathan leaned in, the cold edge of the diamond digging into his stomach. "You told them their destinies. Now tell me mine. I want to be the fourth side of the pyramid. Tell me my task."

"No man can tell another his destiny," Ardeth said. "I am sorry if you thought I was doing so with O'Connell."

"But you--"

"Merely pointed out the truth," Ardeth said. He shook his head, a faint smile playing about his mouth. "I am no Seer, Jonathan. I have no magic wisdom to offer you."

Jonathan groaned aloud. When even the leader of the Med-jai, a man with almost no sense of humor, was making fun of you, things had got pretty bad. And he had nobody but himself to blame for it.

"I will tell you a story," Ardeth said. "Since I was a child, I have had the same dream over and over. I am standing in _sar-netjer_ , and all around me, men are screaming in torment. They are still alive, yet their bodies are being readied for the sarcophagus. The men who are doing these things look to me for guidance, for the next command to follow. At one end of the room is a powerful man, handsome and strong. He looks at me, and I at him, and I speak the words of the curse, the _hom-dai_ that makes him forever an undead, evil Creature. And then I wake up." 

The Med-jai looked at him. "Now what do you think my dream means?"

Jonathan stared at Ardeth with renewed respect. "I think it means you were there. You were the Med-jai who cursed Imhotep."

"Was I?" Again Ardeth seemed to almost smile. "Or is it merely a dream composed of the stories I was told, even as a small boy? Is it a memory or a story of my own making?"

"I don't know," Jonathan whispered.

"Neither do I," Ardeth said. He cocked his head slightly. "But I will tell you one more thing. When I saw the Creature from the museum in Cairo, he looked exactly like the man in my dream."

"Then you really were there!" Jonathan crowed. He sat back, stunned and a little jealous. Did everybody have a rich history except for him? "I don't suppose Nefertiri had an older, lazier brother, did she?"

Ardeth did not seem amused by this. "Have you considered that your task may already be done?"

This had not occurred to him. He frowned. "What do you mean, exactly?"

"It was you who enabled O'Connell to free Evelyn and kill the Creature. And it was you who allowed Alex to resurrect Evelyn. Without you, none of those things could have happened."

He waved a hand. "Oh, please. I get in the way more than I help. That isn't going to make me feel any better."

"That was not my intention," Ardeth said quietly.

"I just--" He stared at the warrior over his diamond. "Why did you say there were only three sides to the pyramid? What about the fourth? What about me?"

"I am sorry if I hurt you." Ardeth's voice was slightly cooler than before, and Jonathan suddenly realized that this man probably never had to apologize to anyone for anything. Quite probably Ardeth was irritated with him and his patent cowardice, his weak need for someone to give him encouragement. 

"Don't worry," he said, offering his standard comeback. "Happens all the time."

"I cannot offer you what I do not know," Ardeth said. "But I can tell you this: I am very glad you came here."

"Me?" he croaked. He frowned, wondering why the Med-jai chieftain could possibly be glad to see someone such as himself.

Ardeth gestured to the diamond. "That should not be."

Instinctively he clutched the gem closer. "What do you mean? It's mine."

"It is part of Ahm Shere. It should have been destroyed with the rest of the Oasis. I cannot imagine why it still exists."

For a moment longer he thought Ardeth meant to take it from him. "It's mine."

"I do not want it." The Med-jai gazed thoughtfully at the diamond. "I think it is best that you keep it. It will be safest with you."

Safe? Suddenly the diamond felt a lot heavier than it had before. "What do you mean, safe?"

"The power of Ahm Shere resides within the stone. It is written that the Scorpion King built the pyramid and set the diamond atop it, so that Anubis could see it winking in the sun from anywhere in the world, and know his servant awaited him." 

Jonathan swallowed hard, remembering the horrid monster that had been the Scorpion King. It was still a wonder to him that Rick had defeated the beast at all. 

That was, of course, after he failed. All he had done was throw the spear right to Imhotep. It had taken Rick to do it right. What else was new?

"The Scorpion King's power still resides in the stone," Ardeth said severely. "It could be used to summon him from the Underworld, or raise the Army of Anubis once again. It must stay in safe hands, away from those who would seek to use it for their own gain."

This was rather shaming, for of course he had intended to do this very thing. Except the gain he was thinking of wasn't power, but money. "Who?"

"I do not know, but I would not want to see them learn of the diamond's existence. You must keep it safe, Jonathan, and hide it well." The warrior looked at him sternly. "Can you do that? If you cannot, tell me now, and we will keep it with us."

He was appalled to discover that he almost _did_ want to give the diamond to Ardeth. The thought of guarding the diamond for the rest of his life was daunting, to say the least. 

Then steel stiffened his spine. Here it was. This was his duty laid out before him. He had asked for this, travelling across half of Egypt to seek this man out and learn his destiny. Now it was here. He must be equal to the task.

"Sort of like guarding the lost City of the Dead, isn't it?" he said wryly.

"Ours is a life of service," said Ardeth, "and commitment. You must think not of yourself but of that which you guard, and the people you protect. You must be prepared for anything, and be ready to do what you must to preserve what has been entrusted to you."

He nodded, gulping. "I can do that."

"Can you swear that the diamond will remain your secret, that not even your family will know where you have hidden it? That no one will ever learn of its existence?"

He thought of all the money he had hoped to realize from the sale of the gem, and sadly bid it all farewell. He thought of the travels, the girls, the drinks, the cars. He thought about Evy, and the way she had run through the temple in order to save Rick. He wanted to be worthy of such heroism, such nobility. 

"Yes," he said. "I can do it."

Ardeth nodded. "Good. Then the diamond will stay with you, where its powers cannot be used for evil."

Jonathan looked down at the stone in his lap, seeing it through different eyes. From being his source of monetary freedom, it had become his spiritual salvation. He felt stronger just looking at it, renewed with purpose and determination. "Right. Don't you worry," he vowed. "It will be safe with me."

Then he glanced behind him. "Er, I promised half of this to Izzy, as payment for taking me out here."

"Tell Izzy that the leader of the Med-jai is in his debt, and that is all the payment he needs," Ardeth said. "That if he ever needs anything, I will do what I can for him." He stood up. 

Jonathan fumbled to his feet, thrusting the diamond into his pack and pulling the straps tight. It was an awkward moment, one he did not quite know how to pass. "I don't suppose we'll ever see you again," he said, striving for light-hearted casualness and failing utterly.

Ardeth permitted himself half a smile. "Fate works in strange ways." He clapped Jonathan on the shoulder. "Now let us get you back to Cairo so O'Connell won't threaten you with too great a bodily harm for stealing away as you did."

Jonathan rolled his eyes and put on his best mournful expression. "You have no idea."

Ardeth led him from the tent, chuckling softly. "Oh, I think I can imagine, my friend."

****

The dirigible rose into the night sky, and Ardeth raised a hand in farewell, knowing Jonathan Carnahan could not see, but still compelled to make the gesture. One did not see one's friends off without going through the proper motions.

"What did he want?" asked a man at his side.

"To find his destiny," he replied.

The dirigible was all but lost against the night now; only the absence of the stars gave it away, as the balloon blotted out the silver points of light above them. Ardeth watched it for a moment longer, then turned away.

He did not know if what he had told Jonathan was true or not. He feared it might be, but he had no way of knowing. The diamond might be perfectly harmless, or it could be a potent weapon. He had not lied to Jonathan about the necessity of keeping it safe, although he had perhaps exaggerated the importance of the task. 

But if a carefully told story could give a man a purpose in life, was it so wrong? 

"And did you give it to him?"

"I do not know. Only time will prove if I am right, and if he guards his secret well."

"And if he does not?"

"Then we will once again ride forth to fight for the world." Ardeth turned and looked upon Hamunaptra, and the Med-jai who followed him. "But next time, we will not be alone."

********

 

END


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